Like Minds
by Thegoldenlock
Summary: YAOI. Tala Ivanov is called to England by detective Bryan Kuznetsov to analyze the profile of one Tyson Granger, who was found in a train station holding the body of his schoolmate and lover Kai Hiwatari with a bloody beyblade in his hands. However, nothing is as it seems.
1. Back to Where it Begun

**Like Minds **

**Summary: Tala Ivanov is called to England by detective Bryan Kuznetsov** **to analyze the profile of one Tyson Granger, who was found in a train station holding the body of his schoolmate and lover Kai Hiwatari with a bloody beyblade in his hands. However, nothing is as it seems. **

**AN: This yaoi fanfic is based on the movie "Like Minds" with some twists and changes to make the Beyblade characters fit the story, and the story to fit the Beybladers. It´ll be an AU story that takes place at a boarding school in England. **

**Warning: Rating M, yaoi, curses, character death. If you can´t handle it please don´t read this story. **

**Pairings: TalaxBryan and KaixTyson**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Back to where it begun**

**Tala** grits his teeth as he jumps out the car and the slightly chilly summer air hits him in the face. It has been raining and the air is quite misty. Red hair floats in the soft breeze as he pays the taxi driver before he heads towards the building down the road with hurried steps.

It´s an early morning and the birds have just woken up. They´re singing happily, ignorant of what has happened and what will happen.

Tala´s mind is spinning and he blames the stress, the flight and the lack of caffeine. Ivanov got a work related call two days ago and he was forced to step on a plane to England just like that. He hasn´t been in England for years and the Russian can´t say he´s looking forward to be working in this part of the world again. This place holds too many memories for him, memories he rather forget, had forgotten during the stressful and cold days in Moscow.

* * *

**Tala leans** against the table as he stares at the two men inside of the small room clad in white. They can´t see him, but he can both see and hear them all too clearly. Ice blue eyes are fixed at the older, paled skinned, man for a long moment before he regards the one he´s here to work with: Tyson Granger. He´s a quite small Asian man with long dark blue-ish hair in a loose ponytail. He doesn´t look like a criminal in Tala´s eyes but he´s too experienced to say that tiny men can´t do severe damage.

"I can´t remember when I first noticed the change. It´s not like I didn´t see it coming, I just didn´t want to believe it. I guess it´s not much of an excuse but it´s the truth…" Tyson talks calmly in a steady voice.

Tala´s eyebrow twitch but before the Russian gets any chance to think more about the lack of emotion in Granger´s voice the other man in the room reacts.

"You´re an evil little fucker." His manly, hoarse voice utters, as he lights a cigarette.

Bryan and his bad habits hasn´t changed. Tala´s eyebrow twitches a second time. The read head sighs and massages his forehead a bit as he sits down and takes a look at Granger´s documents. Blue eyes dart from side to side as he reads the documents with the young man´s photo attached to it. Granger is merely 18 and is accused of three brutal murders.

The deaths of a Kai Hiwatari, Hilary Tatchibana and Max Tate are all over the news.

Tala glances at the ongoing interrogation silently as he´s thinking what could have happened to the three teens.

* * *

**Bryan** hands Tala a cup of coffee as the two of them sits down at the detective´s office. It smells of coffee and cigarettes. It feels eerily comfortable to be sitting here again, Tala, ponders to himself as he takes a sip of the bitter drink. He needed the bitterness. Bryan leans against his desk with his cup in both of his hands as he looks at Tala with a small, almost happy, smirk on his lips. It seems he´s happy over the fact that he still remembered the other´s obsession with coffee. Tala turns slightly bitter. It´s all too familiar. Tala frowns.

"He´s a 18 year old smart-arse little rich snob. I´m under pressure to let him go because the evidence ain´t holding up so I charged him. I need you to make him confess." Bryan tells him in Russian.

A long silence spread between the two Russian men. Tala enjoys his coffee as he lets his mind wander. The small falcon sculpture Tala gave him years ago is still there on the bookshelf just as he left it before he returned to Russia with the intention never to return. His chest tightens a bit.

"Anything else?" Tala asks him in English as he glares up at him. "Hi to you too, Kuznetsov."

Bryan´s eyes widen a bit at this and Tala feels a little more at ease. He made his point clear: don´t get too comfortable with me. The sound of porcelain hitting a flat surface can be heard as Tala puts down his cup as he gets up on his feet and heads off to work leaving a slightly hurt Bryan behind.

* * *

**Tala **enters the white room silently and he sits down across from Granger, crossing his left leg over the other. The two of them stare at each other in silence for a moment. The Japanese man seems very collected and calm. Tala is used to his patients being more panicky especially if they´re accused of such brutal crimes.

He eyes Tyson carefully. "Good morning. My name is Tala Ivanov and I´m a physiologist. I´ve been asked to talk with you to find out what happened."

Tyson simply stares at Tala silently, just as if he´s judging him. Tyson is probably trying to figure him out just like Tala is trying to do the same. A small smile grows on the man´s lips as he nods.

"Do you mind if I record this?" Tala asks him, still eyeing him, before he pushes the button. "Now, tell me about your friend… Kai."

"He wasn´t my friend." Tyson answers in a cold tone, the smile has vanished.

Tala looks at him in an indifferent manner while his mind is racing. The documents say that the two men were close friends and always seen together in the school grounds. All these documents can´t be wrong, unless Bryan only wanted a confession that won´t hold in court. Bryan is forceful, but he is professional so that can´t be the case. Tala dislikes how he mentally praised his old friend. He shakes his head as he continues with his interrogation.

"What did you mean when you said…" Tala looks through his papers. "…_his death was necessary_?"

Tyson´s eyes widen at this. He leans towards Tala as he grabs the edges of the table separating them. Tala doesn´t flinch or back away but he stares at the other man coldly, warning him silently.

"You think that I did this?" Tyson´s voice breaks.

Finally some emotion, Tala ponders, as he leans towards the younger man. The chair creaks as he does so. Their faces are only a few inches apart.

"I´m here to listen to you, Tyson." Tala tells him in a serious but gentle voice.

Tyson avert his gaze when Tala´s stare gets too much for him to handle. Silence spread between them but Tala waits for the man to start talking.

"Do you know of the Cathars?" Tyson asks suddenly.

Tala shakes his head. He doesn´t understand what Tyson wants to say or why it should be relevant.

"They wanted to be in direct contact with God so they banished all the priests and bishops…"

"Are you interested in History, Tyson?" Tala asks him, silently questioning why he even brought this up.

Tyson smirks. "…A Vatican army came to the Cathar villages and every man, woman and child was killed. When the pope got the question how they´d separate their own from the Cathars he said: Kill them all, God will recognize his own."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Are you a religious man, Ivanov?" Tyson leans towards Tala again.

"Is that important to you?"

"Do you want to know what I believe in?"

"Why not? It´d be a good start."

"Gestalt. An organized whole where the individual parts effects each other but where the whole is more important than the parts."

"That´s basic psychology. Should I be impressed?"

"That´s not what it is. It´s how you use it."

"And how´s that?"

"You´re the psychologist."

Tyson avert his eyes as he leans back in the chair. A deep breath leaves his lips. "Kai is dead…and I´m charged for murder. What I believe in doesn´t matter, does it?" He continues, clearly ending their conversation.

Tala turns of the recorder.

"Not a good first impression, Granger. "

Tala takes a hold of the file with Tyson´s documents before he gets up and leaves.

* * *

**Several months earlier**

**Tyson stands** together with the other young men dressed in black school uniforms as they say the Morning Prayer in the dining hall. His slightly dry lips are not moving. After saying Amen, all sit down and starts eating. Tyson digs in. He loves eating even though the food at this place is nowhere near his standard. Max, a blond guy with freckles, elbows him out of the blue and points his fork towards a table across the room.

"Who´s the new guy?"

Tyson turns around to look at him. A man, seemingly his age, is sitting there eating by himself silently. What catches Tyson´s interest is his strange colored hair, heavily pierced ears and markings in the face. He looks like a circus freak. As if the guy could read his thoughts their eyes meet. A breath is stuck in Tyson´s throat as brown eyes meet bloody red. He must be wearing contact lenses. Tyson averts his gaze quickly as he pretends as if nothing happened.

"I don´t know." Tyson shrugs as he takes a bite of his bread.

"Too bad you´re sharing rooms."

Tyson looks at Max wide-eyed with his bread stuck in his throat. Tyson coughs a bit, drinks some water, and returns into staring at his blonde friend. Max laughs at his friend´s reaction.

"It´s true." The brunette sitting across from him, Kenny, says. "I saw them bring in an extra bed into your room before."

Tyson makes a grimace at the news and Kenny gives him a gentle smile. Tyson turns bitter and he stares at this new guy once more. His anger grows as he sees how he simply continues eating as if he didn´t notice Tyson´s stare. Tyson gets up on his feet and raises his arm.

"Sir, can I get permission to leave?" His loud voice echoes in the large hall.

People in the dining hall turns to look at him with awe. Max smiles with amusement while Kenny tries to hide from all the stares. No one dares to ask for permission like that. The younger boys look up to him while the ones at the same age sighs.

"Where are you going, Granger?" One of the teachers answers.

"The toilet." Tyson smiles.

"Can´t it wait?" The man looks bothered.

"I don´t know, but it seems to be quite urgent business." Tyson smirks.

* * *

**Tyson** opens the door to his room and there is an extra bed there, just as Kenny and Max said. He curses. His desk is full of stuff that´s not his own so he takes a look. There are lot of books and boxes of all sizes and shapes. A frown makes Tyson look older than he really is. He turns around and his eyes move to the bag lying on the floor. He searches the bag and a small gasp of surprise leaves his lips as he feels how he cuts his fingers on something sharp and metallic. Eyes widen. _A knife?_ He guesses with an accelerating heart as he pulls the object out of the bag.

"Beyblades?" Tyson utters as if he can´t believe it.

He´s holding two beyblades in his hand but one catches his interest more than the other. It´s blue with the image of a red phoenix in the middle. Beyblades are banned at this school but this guy somehow managed to get them inside. Tyson frowns as he digs in deeper into the bag. There is no cell phone, no toothbrush or extra underwear: only beyblade items. His bag must weigh a ton.

"I didn´t know people at this school learned to go through other´s things…" A dark, cold, voice suddenly utters.

Tyson flinches visibly and he turns around to see the new guy glaring at him from the doorway. His eyes are burning with hostility. Tyson can´t find his words as he puts the blades down and gets up on his feet again. Red eyes are judging him silently. Tyson frowns as he moves towards the man and bumps into his shoulder on the way out.

"Don´t get too comfortable." Tyson tells him over his shoulder as he walks down the corridor.

* * *

**Since it´s** a small boarding school, the news of a new transfer student got around quickly. A lot of students are curious about the new boy and several of them has been bugging Tyson about it. Tyson hasn´t said a thing because he´s secretly enjoying and despising the attention at the same time.

Tyson has the urge to report him for keeping Beyblades, dangerous weapons, on the school and get him out of his life for good but something is stopping him. Can it be that he thinks this guy is interesting because he dared to do something Tyson didn´t?

Tyson meets up with Max and Kenny at their usual meeting place: the roof after the last meal of the day. The three young men are currently playing a card game.

"How is he like?" Max asks Tyson.

"Weird. He only brought beyblades…"

"Isn´t he a bit old for that?" Max comments with a raised brow.

"No one is too old for beyblade!" Kenny blurts out while blushing.

"I meant: isn´t he too old to risk it for beyblading?" Max chuckles. "It´ll get him expelled."

Tyson and Max laughs at this.

"Have you heard anything about him, Kenny?" Tyson asks his friend.

"It was difficult but I heard someone say he´s from a prestigious school over seas. He was apparently sent here because of some family trouble." He puts on his oval glasses.

"So they sent him here? Yeah, that´ll fix him." Tyson´s voice is full of sarcasm.

Max is a kind guy but he´d do anything Tyson asked him to do. The blonde is fun to hang out with and Tyson consider him his best friend in this hell hole. Kenny is Max´s roommate. He´s is a good friend too, but he´s kind of clingy and a coward. He doesn´t like to break the rules but tags along because he´s afraid of being lonely. Tyson likes being the leader of this small group of friends.

"I´m not looking forward to sleeping in the same room as him…" Tyson comments.

* * *

**The guy** is sitting there at the desk working on his beyblades in the darkness as Tyson gets back. None of them say a thing. Tyson is about to start stripping in the middle of the room when he realizes he can´t act like he used to when he lived by himself. He pulls down his sweater again. His roommate looks at him with an indifferent look but it still makes his cheeks burn with embarrassment. Tyson hurries over to the bathroom and gets ready for bed in silence.

He stares at the other man´s back as he lies there under his blanket.

_He is different, Tyson admits that. He guesses that´s why he interests him. _

_And he has this morbid fascination for beyblades…_

The guy tenses as if he felt Tyson´s stare and this makes the other teen turn around in his bed and try to fall asleep. Tyson feels very uncomfortable there, especially since the usually comfortable silence is broken by metal sounds from time to time.

* * *

**Back to present time. **

**Tala **gives Tyson a tired expression. They´ve been stuck in this small white room for hours but Tyson isn´t telling him anything relevant to the case. Tala is getting more bitter over this case and he´s silently blaming Bryan.

"What about you, Tyson?" Tala urges him to say something of importance.

"Ask the police, I´ve told them everything." Tyson shrugs as if he doesn´t give a damn.

"I´m asking _you_."

Tyson looks at him with an indifferent expression for a moment before a smirk grows in his pale lips. Tala frowns at this.

"Do you have a partner? You´re not too bad looking… your time is running out." Tyson changes topic completely.

"No, you´re the one running out of time." Tala isn´t impressed.

Tyson´s smirk grows bigger at Tala´s reaction. He leans back in his chair. "I heard people study psychology to sort out their own problems. What do you think?"

"Tell me about Kai." Tala changes subject.

"Kai got what he wanted." Tyson answers calmly.

"And what was that?"

"Eternity."

Tala sighs as he prepares to leave. This isn´t going anywhere and he´s in need for a high dose of caffeine right now. His headache is killing him.

"So, you don´t get it do you?" Tyson stares at Tala seriously. "But you will. You will."

Tala eyes him as he turns off his recorder, gets his papers and leaves.

* * *

**AN: I hope you liked it. **

**R&R**


	2. Mind Games

**Like Minds**

**Chapter 2: Mind Games**

* * *

**Tala** walks through the small detective company with hurried steps. His feet take him to Bryan´s office and the pale man notices him and sends his two guests away. The two men seem very distressed and bitter as they pass Tala by in the doorway. Bryan smiles at him as he enters the small and smoky office. Tala helps himself to a cup of coffee.

_Bryan seems to be eagerly waiting for results_, Tala ponders, or _is he too happy to see me?_

"What´s going on?" Tala asks him, referring to the guests he sent off.

"Nothing I can´t handle." Bryan smiles. "How was your meeting with Granger?"

"This case is bullshit."

"This kid is guilty. Tala, trust me on this." Bryan tells Tala with narrow eyes.

_Trust?_ Bryan isn´t the one to preach to him about trust. Tala throws the documents on the table in front of Bryan, and he leans towards the older Russian with nothing but anger in his ice-cold eyes. Bryan looks slightly surprised for a moment before his stare also turns cold.

"You can´t charge someone based on a gut feeling." Tala tells the detective.

"He´s a fucked up, remorseless little psycho." Bryan almost yells him in the face.

"It's not like I haven´t met those before." Tala rolls his eyes.

"So what about all that religious shit then, huh?"

"None of it makes him a murderer. You charged him without any hard evidence; you dug yourself a hole and now you´re expecting me to pull you out of it?" Tala glares at Bryan. "You called me all the way from Russia for this? If I knew, I wouldn´t have returned!"

"It could be good for your future, Tal. You´ll be kicking with the big boys again in no time. I guarantee there´ll be a lot of publicity."

It´s Bryan´s fault Tala lost it all in the first place. Tala won´t let him get away this easily.

"Don´t call me that." Tala almost yells at him. "And count me out. I´ll find out the truth my way."

Tala turns his back at his former friend as he heads out. Bryan´s light colored eyes follow the other man as he heads towards the door.

"How about going out for a bite then?"

Tala shuts the door with a loud bang and stares at Bryan through the glass wall as he walks down the corridor. Their eye contact lasts until the wall separates them. A deep sigh leaves Bryan´s lips as he scratches his head.

"I´ll take that as a no…" Bryan mutters to himself.

* * *

**Tala** shuts the door behind him as he enters the old apartment he used to rent when he studied in England. He was lucky to be able to live here again. A large, white and grey blue eyed Siberian husky comes running towards him and licks him all over the face.

"Hello there, Wolborg…" A smile graces the red head´s face as he hugs his companion.

Tala won´t go anywhere without his dog and England isn´t an exception. Tala sits down at the sofa in the living room and pours himself a glass of wine. Wolborg jumps up and lays down close to his master. The animal sighs in a content manner as Tala pats his head softly.

Tala listens to his recordings from today´s interview carefully.

"_Gestalt. An organized whole where the individual parts effects each other but where the whole is more important than the parts." _Tyson´s voice echoes in the small apartment.

"_That´s basic psychology. Should I be impressed?"_

"_That´s not what it is. It´s how you use it." _Tyson´s voice echoes.

What does he mean by that?It doesn´t make any sense to him. Tala sighs in a frustrated manner which makes Wolborg whine. Tala smiles at him gently before he starts to read up about the Cathars and gestalt theory.

* * *

**Months earlier**

**Tyson opens **the door and his eyes widen at the smell. It reeks of metal, fire and oil. Brown eyes dart to the man sitting at his desk by the window.

"What is this smell?" He complains.

Tyson enters deeper into the room and that´s when he notices what state it´s in. The floor and walls are all covered in cuts and burn marks. Marks that look like a result of a long beyblade practice.

"You gotta be kidding me." Tyson groans. "Are you crazy?"

The man ignores Tyson and continues to clean his blue phoenix beyblade. Tyson gets frustrated and he approaches the man, almost leaning over him as he yells into his ear. The other man stops working on his beyblade when he feels Tyson´s hot breath against his face. His eyes are glowing.

"I asked you a question!"

"Define crazy?" Is the only answer Tyson gets from the enigma.

"Listen here. We´re sharing rooms so you can´t do whatever you want. I can get you expelled by just inviting the principal."

Red eyes look at him for the first time since that day in the dining hall. "Is there anything else?" he asks calmly.

Tyson wants to hit him, so bad, but he knows he´ll lose if he touches him. That is exactly what that bastard wants: for him to lose control. The Japanese grit his teeth as he leaves the room in a hurry, slamming the door shut behind him. The man stops working with his blade as he stares after Tyson with a distant look in his eyes. His hand touches his cheek and his thumb touches Tyson´s saliva. Saliva, that left Tyson, when he was yelling at him. Kai looks at it with a deep expression on his otherwise indifferent face.

* * *

**Back to current time**

**Bryan regards** Tala and Tyson from behind the glass wall in silence. Tala has been trying to get Granger to talk for hours with little result. Bryan plays with his lighter and it makes this rhythmical sound that would piss anyone off. Anyone except the heavy smoker himself.

"They must be desperate, sending you again. They don´t have any proof that I did it have they?" Tyson´s voice echoes in the room.

"What makes you think that, Granger?" Is Tala´s answer.

Bryan is still impressed with Tala´s skill to let the other get him off guard, off balance or show any kind of emotion when someone is trying to play with his mind. Bryan has…missed having the red head around…but nothing he does can make up for that mistake years ago.

Tala hates him now.

Bryan frowns as he bites his lower lips. His eyes are fixed on the teenager. He´s clearly messing with Tala. Insulting him, making a fool of him and Tala is too proud to do anything about it.

"If they had, they wouldn´t need you, would they?" Tyson says cunningly.

Tala looks at him with an indifferent expression but Bryan knows Tala is starting to get pissed off. That small frown tells volumes.

"How long can you keep me here?" Tyson turns towards one of the four white walls, well aware that he´s being watched.

Bryan flinches as their eyes meet for a second. His anger starts to boil. This brat got no manners trying to mess with him. He´s not as kind as Tala. He won´t tolerate much more of this bullshit. He can´t believe Tala who´s still sitting there, acting like nothing bothers him.

"That depends on when you start talking." Tala tells Tyson calmly.

"You know nothing, absolutely nothing…" Tyson stares at Tala and then at the wall again. "And that goes for you too."

_That´s it! _Bryan gets up from his chair and enters the room. Tala´s blue eyes widen dangerously at this but Bryan doesn´t seem to care as he walks over to stand behind Tala. He throws some documents on the table. Tala stares at them for a moment before he touches his forehead with irritation written all over his face.

"This just came in. The markings on the ground indicate that you held the launcher when the blade that killed Kai was fired. Your clothes were covered in his blood."

Tala can´t believe Bryan is acting like this under _his _interrogation. He looks away from both of the men and crosses his arms over his chest. He´s really irritated at Bryan for doing this. It´s not professional.

"I want to see my grandpa." Tyson says as he stares at the papers on the table.

"He won´t be able to help you now." Bryan threatens him.

Tala sighs as he gets up from his chair. He has gotten enough of this crap. Tyson´s eyes widen at this and the young man throws himself over the table to grab Tala´s wrist to keep him there. He doesn´t want to be alone with Bryan in this tiny little room. Tala flinches at the sudden touch and intrusion of his personal space.

"I didn´t do this, Kai was holding-!" Tyson yells.

Tala´s eyes are wide as he stares at Tyson. The grip on his wrist is getting firmer by the second. Bryan´s eyes narrow dangerously at the sight and before Tala knows it Tyson is thrown across the room, hitting the wall.

"Get your fucking hands off him!" Bryan roars.

Tyson stares up at Bryan from the ground. "You´re fucking insane!" His nose is bleeding, and he looks frightened by the amount of blood.

"Get him back into his cell." Bryan orders the guards who came running upon hearing the screams.

As Tyson is dragged out from the room he stares at Tala with wide wicked eyes. "You know I didn´t do this! You know that I´m innocent! "

Tyson´s screams can be heard as he´s forcibly escorted back to his cell. Tala´s heart is beating wildly in his chest. He stares at Bryan but he won´t face him.

"We´re meant to be working together on this case." Tala starts, punching his shoulder lightly to get him to listen to him. "Don´t you ever interrupt me when I´m talking with a patient. You just assaulted an 18 year old child!"

"I was trying to protect you, dammit!" I Bryan´s defense.

"I can get you fired for this." Tala tells him, ignoring Bryan´s comment, since it doesn´t make any sense to him. "Was the markings from Kai´s direction?"

"It could…" He starts but gets interrupted.

"Was it?" Tala shouts him in the face.

"Yes it was!" Bryan gives in.

"So, Kai could have fired that launcher." Tala concludes, staring at Bryan.

"Look, he was messing with your head. I just wanted to speed things up a little." Bryan tries to explain himself.

"What makes you think you´ve the intelligence to tell if that boy was fucking with my head or not?" Tala feels insulted.

"Well, as long as he confesses it doesn´t matter." Bryan shrugs.

"If he confesses my way it will also stand up in court!"

"Alright…alright!" Bryan yells in a frustrated manner.

"I need time so stay out of my way. This boy is too smart for your macho style anyway."

Tala walks towards the door without sparing Bryan one last glance.

"Tal…!"

Hearing that nickname makes Tala stop. A shiver runs down his spine as he stands there, quite vulnerable, in the doorway. He looks at Bryan over his shoulder.

"You´re not gonna report this are you?" Is the only thing he asks and Tala is let down again.

"I´m not like you." The red head sighs.

Tala flinches when one of the guards suddenly comes rushing up towards him. He´s bleeding heavily from his forehead.

"Dr. Ivanov, I think you better come." The guard tells Tala.

Tala and Bryan follows the man hurriedly. When they get to Tyson´s cell Tala´s eyes widen at the sight. Tyson managed to steal one of the police officer´s baton and is threatening them with it. He wants to get out of his cell. Now. When the police officers charge he starts hitting them violently but the small boy is no match for them and is soon on the ground with his hands handcuffed.

Tala glances at Bryan."You, stay back!"

"He´s all yours." Bryan scoffs.

Tyson looks up at Tala with a pleasing expression on his face as he spots him in the doorway. The police officers are pushing him towards the ground.

"Leave. I´ll be fine, so leave!" Tala tells the men.

They obey after some hesitation. Tala helps Tyson up to the bench before he sits down across from the teen. The heavy silence is maddening.

"They say you want to talk?" Tala breaks the silence.

Tyson starts to blurt everything out and Tala´s eyes widen more and more for each passing second.

"Kai sat me up. You have to believe me! He made it look like I did it."

"Kai set it up to make it look like you killed him? I think you can do better than that." Tala won´t get fooled that easily.

"I didn´t kill him." Tyson shakes his head, tears falling down his cheeks. "I´d never kill him…"

Tyson starts sobbing violently while uttering Hiwatari´s name over and over again. Tala regards him in silence. First, it seemed as if Tyson didn´t mourn the other man´s death at first. Is this just an act or was he acting before? Tala looks at him, observing him, but he´s not doing anything to make him stop crying.

"You don´t really come off as a victim here, Tyson." Tala pressures him.

And it seems as if that was just what Tyson needed to spill the whole story from start to bottom.

"Listen, to what I got to say…listen, just listen…." Tyson begs. "Kai he…."

* * *

**Several months back in time**

**It´s snowing** outside. The season has changed but Tyson´s relationship with Kai hasn't. He´s still as cold and strange as before but he has kept a distance and Tyson left him alone. He didn´t want to get involved with the likes of him. It´d only cause trouble even though all he wants is to cause trouble for him.

Kai was gone when Tyson wake up, and he realizes he´s a bit late to the morning meeting. He curses to himself as he gets dressed and runs off in a hurry. Max waves at him from the crowd and Tyson takes his place beside the American.

"Just in time!" Tyson yawns. "Where´s Kenny?"

"He got sick with a cold."

Tyson stares at Max.

"Get away from me, Max. I don´t have time for colds." Tyson laughs. "Just kidding."

The assembly starts with the school anthem. The voices of hundreds of young men echo together with the music organ in the large hall. But Tyson´s lips are not moving. Max elbows him but Tyson just shakes his head. He won´t sing it. Brown eyes moves over the crowd and he spots Kai standing some meters in front of him. It´s his fault he almost overslept today.

_Have you ever had the feeling that a person is inside of your head, listening to your thoughts? I read an article about people who could communicate across continents with their mind… Just think if your darkest secrets were floating around in the air like radio waves…and just waited to be picked up?_ Tyson ponders to himself as he watches the other man.

Kai looks at him over his shoulder. It´s something about him that draws Tyson to him. Maybe those fiery eyes? Those markings? Tyson don´t know but it´s frightening him.

"Be seated."

Tyson sits down and their eye contact is broken. The young man can´t really focus on what the principle's words because his mind is filled with one person. His gaze turns distant as he spaces out.

"It has come to my attention that some boys…" The principal keeps talking.

Max elbows Tyson and he flinches. Why so much elbowing? Tyson glares at the blonde.

"No, he can´t have realized we´re the ones that took that cake." Tyson shakes his head.

"But it must have been-!" Max argues.

"Granger, Tate if it´s so important that you speak at the assembly, why won´t you let all of us know?" The principle's voice echoes over all of the people assembled.

Max bolts up on his feet while Tyson mutters something along the lines of "what a drag" before he gets up.

"It was nothing important, sir." Tyson answers nonchalantly.

"I´ll see you two at my office afterwards. Be seated." The principal tells them angrily.

Tyson groans loudly at this.

"News of the play the girl academy is setting up …" The old man continues to speak.

* * *

**Max and** Tyson enter the principal's office silently and the man asks them to sit down. Max is all proper and polite and it´s pissing Tyson off a bit. He sighs as the old man starts lecturing them.

"I thought you lads would be a good example…" He starts.

"C´mon!" Tyson complains.

"I beg your pardon?" He stares at the teen.

"Then why do I have a madman in my room?" Tyson continues.

"The most of the students have three roommates, Granger." He tells him with a sigh.

"The most students have a home outside this hell hole." Is Tyson´s counter attack.

The principal stares at him coldly, but there´s a certain tenderness in those eyes of his as he sighs once again.

"So, as a punishment you two will lend a hand with the play…" He signs a paper.

"Yes, of course!"Max nods vigorously.

Tyson stares at Max as he shakes his head at his stupidity. Max seems to want to make everything "alright" again, but Tyson won´t understand why he can´t stand up for himself.

"Can you wait outside, Tate?" The principal asks the blond.

Max hurries up and out the door and it leaves Tyson alone with the older man.

"What is all this about, Tyson?" He suddenly turns informal with him.

"I told you I live alone." Tyson cross his arms over his chest.

"Kai is intelligent, you may find his company rewarding."

"Like how?" Tyson scoffs.

"I put you in the same room as a young man who I believe can academically challenge you."

"That´s bullshit!"

"Your future is what´s at stake." He tells him. "Don´t lose sight of your obligations. That´d be all."

Tyson exits the office and sighs as he scratches his head. He´s so angry. Max has been waiting near the toilet and he hurries to run up to Tyson again.

"I´m sorry for back there. You didn´t say anything about the cake right? Amazing that he didn´t know about it!" Max apologizes but Tyson just shakes his head.

"Your grandpa is so scary at times."

* * *

**AN: I hope you enjoyed it. **

**R&R**


	3. Rebellion

**Like Minds**

**Chapter 3: Rebellion**

* * *

**Tyson** sits in class next to Kenny and Max as always but he´s unlike them not paying attention as the teacher arrives. He stands up, stays silent as the class greets him and sits down just like a robot. It´s always the same routine. The teacher starts talking about Christianity and Tyson is forced to listen since it is an interesting topic. However, he doesn´t share the view as the teacher presents to the class.

"Throughout history, man has sacrificed himself for his fundamental beliefs…" The middle aged man starts.

Tyson yaws as he looks through the window as Max goofs around, bothering the poor student sitting at the bench in front of him. The student does his best not to fall of his chair as Max tickles him but the teacher soon notices that something is off and scolds him in front of the class.

"Are you alright, Ozuma?"

The dark haired, green eyed man gets up on his feet quickly. Max chuckles discreetly.

"Sir, I just fell of my chair." He answers, while forcing himself not to glare at the one laughing behind his back.

Tyson grins at this. Max always knows how to keep lectures interesting and rewarding.

"Be a little more careful next time."

"Yessir." Ozuma sits down and gives Max a long hateful stare.

The blonde simply shrugs and shakes his head. The teacher sighs before he starts talking again. Tyson taps his finger against the bench as he keeps on disagreeing to what the teacher tells them.

"Some of you are working with the play "Becket" so who can tell me about Thomas Becket? Yes, Michael?"

"Becket was the arch bishop in Canterbury in the early 12th century, sir. He was murdered in his cathedral in 1170." The jock Michael gets up on his feet and tells them with a tired face. It seems that he was sleeping: charging energy for his training later.

It seems as if he did his homework for once, Tyson is surprised.

"Yes, exactly!" The teacher is content. "He knew that the knights were coming and he chose to wait for them under the sight of God." The man is smiling broadly as he keeps on talking.

Tyson raises his hand, causing max and Kenny to flinch. Even Kai, who´s sitting across the room, glances Tyson´s way. Tyson can´t take this anymore. The teacher looks his way but seems to avoid giving him the word on purpose as he continues to blabber about Becket. The Japanese sighs as he raises his hand even higher in the air, making it impossible for the teacher to avoid him without being openly disrespectful.

"…Yes, Granger?" He utters bitterly.

Tyson gets up on his feet lazily. "His murder was simply political, and ordered by the church."

Several students´ eyes narrow at this and the classroom turns eerily silent. Crimson eyes that has been glued on Tyson moves to look at the teacher that´s visibly trembling with anger. An amused smile can be seen on the new student´s lips.

"Granger has such an interesting angle at history!" The teacher laughs at him, trying to make him look like a fool.

"Well, you can´t change history." Tyson grins at the teacher. "Becket´s murder was just as cruel as the church´s other deeds committed against the people."

The class is confused, wondering who´s telling the truth: their teacher or Tyson. They´re also amazed that someone dares to talk like that without fearing the consequences. Tyson comes off as a troublemaker.

"Exactly what are you referring to?" The teacher sighs.

"The church murdered the Cathars." Tyson tells him calmly.

"The Cathars? The church was merely regaining order." The teacher scoffs.

"Then what about the night templars?"

"I can´t see why you brought them up?"

"Well, they were the ones who killed Thomas Becket, right? They were even knows as the knights of Christ."

Kai stares at Tyson, and then to the teacher. The man is trembling with anger as he stands there in front of a class that´s now questioning his teaching methods because of one student.

"So why won´t you tell the class how the church turned against—" Tyson continues.

"Granger, get out." He interrupts.

Tyson´s eyes widen in amusement.

"GET OUT!" The teacher repeats as Tyson won´t move.

A smile grows bigger on Tyson´s lips as he gathers his things and leaves silently. Kai watches his steps in silence. A pair of burning eyes stares at the teacher who keeps on muttering insults.

* * *

**Tyson gets off** his bed as the principal, his grandpa, comes rushing through the door. Tyson knew he´d come to scold him for his behavior earlier today. He doesn´t get time to greet him though because the man stops and stares at the state his room is in. There arebeyblade marks everywhere. It´s in a mess.

"Good God." He gasps.

"He has been busy." Is Tyson´s only comment as he shrugs tiredly. "And you let me share a room with him?"

Tyson feels a bit content. He knows Kai will get expelled now, and he´s happy he didn´t need to tell the principal himself. It´ll be nice to get his room for himself again.

"But he was the star pupil at –." The older Granger starts as he touches the markings at the wall with dread in his eyes.

"So why bring him here?" Tyson asks the man.

"His grandfather thought it´d be better for him here, away from the distractions at home. We´re fortunate to have him." He answers breathlessly, still staring at the messy room.

"Not we, _you_." Tyson comments dryly.

"I´ve been working hard to give you what you need. We´ll show hospitality." The man moves towards the door as he´s about to leave but his grandson follows.

"Grandpa, please…" Tyson pleads.

"His grandfather is a very important member of…" The man answers.

Tyson sighs heavily at this. It all makes sense to him now. He didn´t think of expelling Kai, not even after seeing what he has done to this room. All because of that club of his.

"So you´re in the same club? No one else wanted him and you´re doing the brotherly thing to accept him? You don´t give a fuck about me or that guy, it´s all about that damn club for old geezers!"

"It´s enough!" The man wants Tyson to be silent but the teen keeps on yelling at him.

"-So don´t give me the brotherhood bullshit!" Tyson shouts.

And the principal hits Tyson. Brown eyes widen as he feels how his left cheek burns with sudden pain after the slap. The older man looks surprised, regretful, as he gives Tyson one last glance before leaving.

"This boy will be made welcome."

A small gasp leaves the man´s lips as he´s about to bump into Kai in the doorway. The two nods at each other awkwardly before Kai enters and Tyson´s grandpa disappears down the corridor. Tyson stares at the window with his back towards the other boy. He doesn´t want him to see his red, throbbing cheek. He wonders just how much the other man heard of the conversation that just took place.

A tense silence spread between the roommates and Kai starts unpacking his bag. The noise suddenly stops and Tyson turns around only to find Kai standing behind him. Eerily close. Tyson forces his body not to flinch by surprise as he stares up at the slightly taller man. They haven´t been these close before. A gasp leaves Tyson´s lips as Kai touches his throbbing cheek. Eyes widen as the red eyed man caresses his skin with his thumb for a second before pulling away, giving him space.

"He hit you." Kai states the fact in an almost…soft tone.

Tyson is speechless as he stands there, frozen, with his eyes glued at the other´s face. His heart is beating like crazy in his chest. Kai gives him a nod before he moves away and sits down at his desk, starting with his homework. Tyson stares at him over his shoulder for a long moment before he leaves the room in a hurry.

* * *

**Max and Kenny** looks up as Tyson opens the door and joins them at the roof. Max is chewing on some cake, which he probably stole from the kitchen, while Kenny is reading some comics. Tyson sits down in silence. Max and Kenny glances at him before they look at each other with confused expressions on their faces.

"Ty, you seem out of it." Kenny observes. "Is something wrong?"

Tyson snaps out of his daze and blinks before he returns to reality.

"It´s Kai, he´s so weird." Tyson tells them quietly with his mind wandering elsewhere again.

"Tell us something new?" Max grins.

"Grandpa saw our room today." Tyson looks at them. "He saw all those beyblade marks and he still didn´t expel him."

"That Hiwatari must be some kind of honor student…"Kenny murmurs, sounding a bit jealous.

Max is silent for a while. "Then why don´t you make him want to leave?"

"No, you can´t mean—!" Kenny´s eyes widen as he´s interrupted.

Tyson grins. "Yes, yes, yes! That´s a great plan!"

"—bullying, can´t you?" Kenny continues as he face palms himself.

Max and Tyson do the "give-me-five" while Kenny is panicking slightly. The roof is full of laugher as Kenny finally relaxes and joins them. The three young men start discussing the best ways to piss Hiwatari off and they plan to start the next day.

* * *

**Tyson** is awake but he´s pretending he´s asleep as Kai gets up. The man is taking his time as he stretches in bed before he enters the bathroom. Tyson can´t help but snicker as Kai closes the door behind him. It´s silent for a while and Tyson listens for any kind of sound as he lies there under the blanket. The water starts running and Tyson smiles. His smile fades as seconds pass without any yell of surprise from Kai. Kai exits the room after about 15mins and Tyson can smell the soap on the other man.

"One: I saw what you did to the tap and two: you´re not snoring so I assume you´re awake." Kai´s deep voice breaks the silence but Tyson can´t detect any anger in it.

Kai exit the room and Tyson gets up as he hears how the door is shut. A loud groan leaves his lips as he falls back into his bed again. He scratches his head in thought. A smile grows wide on his lips as he realizes Kai will be more of a challenge than he first thought.

* * *

**Tyson, **Kenny and Max are hiding behind the small pillar in the corridor and three pair of eyes are glued on one specific door. Max and Tyson are chuckling while Kenny is turning paler and paler by the second. They know that Kai is on his way back from his "secret" beyblade training and they´ve prepared a little surprise. Tyson´s eyes widen as he notices Kai walking towards the room from the opposite direction. Kenny shakes his head as he hides.

Kai grabs the door handle and enters, only to stop when he gets a bucket of water all over him. He doesn´t say a word as he stands there, his indifferent expression doesn´t twitch. Tyson stares at him with a frown. Kenny and Max hurries to run a way, but Tyson is lost in his thoughts. Kai´s dual colored hair is dripping wet, the white shirt he is wearing turns see-through showing strange markings on the teen´s skin and those marking on his cheeks are not fading.

Tyson swallows his saliva at the sight. He doesn´t know why but this burning sensation in his stomach starts bothering him. He approaches Kai in silence while eyeing him intensively. Max and Kenny decides to run when they still got the chance to.

"Those are real?" Tyson asks him, referring to the markings.

Red eyes, under a wet fringe, look at him in silence before Kai enters their shared room. Tyson follows and throws himself on his bed once inside. Brown eyes glances at Kai as he stands in the middle of the room, water dripping. A small pool of water takes form at his feet. The markings on his broad back can be seen through his shirt. Tyson can´t help but stare at the other man´s almost naked skin. The burning sensation grows stronger.

"They´re tattoos." Kai answers as he wipes the water away from his face with the back of his right hand. "Did you really think I used face paint?"

Kai doesn´t wait for an answer as he takes of his soaked shirt. Tyson´s breath is stuck in his throat. Kai´s pale skin is decorated by a large, black phoenix tattoo, and it´s beautiful. His shoulders are broad, his waist is small and it seems that he has no birthmarks or scars at all on that porcelain white skin of his.

"Oh." Is the only thing Tyson can say.

"Nice try though." Kai smirks at him over his shoulder."But it´s not like water would kill me."

Tyson´s heart skips a beat at the sight of Kai´s face. Kai´s smirk fades as he looks serious for a moment. Tyson avert his gaze. He pouts for himself while the other man puts on a dry sweater and walks away with his hands in his pockets. It seems that Kai is actually enjoying Tyson trying to prank him. His plan has backfired but he´s determined to not give up.

He´d lose to Hiwatari if he did.

* * *

**There** has passed several days of failed attempts at pranking the all mighty Kai Hiwatari and Tyson is slowly losing hope in seeing that cold hearted and indifferent guy show some kind of weakness. However, it´s Tyson that feels that he has grown weaker for each passing day since after he saw the other man half naked. Just a glance from the red eyed man makes it hard to breathe. It´s like Kai has him under his spell and he can´t break free.

It´s pissing Tyson off.

Max and Kenny have kept a distance since they´ve sensed that Tyson is more bitter than usual. They´re worried about him but know it´s best to keep away. Tyson is for once sitting by himself during class. He isn´t making an uproar nor upsetting the teacher: he´s uncharacteristically calm. The class ends and everyone leaves in a hurry but Tyson just sits there, lost in his thoughts as the room gets empty. A shadow moving in the corner of his eye makes Tyson flinch and look up. Only to see the person who has been in his thoughts stand there, looking at him.

"Your attempts at making me angry are quite cute, Granger." Kai grins as he leans closer to him. "But it seems as if you given up."

Tyson tries to look away but Kai is too close and makes him unable to move by grabbing his wrist. The touch sends shivers down Tyson´s spine and it makes him terrified. The shorter man gets no chance to react because Kai turns him around and pushes him against the wall. A gasp leaves the Japanese´s lips. The taller man´s chest is touching his as Kai presses against Tyson. His grip doesn´t hurt but it´s strong enough to make the smaller man unable to break free. Tyson didn't know Kai had this strength. It´s intimidating. His heart is beating rapidly in his chest and his cheeks turn cherry red as he fears Kai can either feel it or hear it since they´re so close.

The closeness is maddening.

Tyson stares at him. "This is just the start, I´ll make you want to leave…you bastard." He sounds bitter.

Kai regards him in silence but there´s no emotion in his face at Tyson´s harsh words. It´s like he didn´t hear or if he won´t really listen. None of them says a thing for a long while as Kai just holds him captive. Tyson dares to look up at him and their gazes meet. Brown meets burning red. There´s something dangerous lurking in those crimson depths. He knows it, he can sense nothing about this guy can be good, but he´s somehow…drawn to him. Kai´s eyes turns softer as he slowly leans down towards Tyson. Eyes widen and his heart starts racing even faster.

"You can´t hurt me." Kai whisper into his ear, smirking.

And Kai lets him go. Tyson blinks several times. He thought Kai would kiss him for a moment. Tyson lets the breath he didn´t know he was holding slip through his slightly trembling lips. His brown eyes stare at Kai.

"How do you know that?" Tyson asks Kai in a frustrated voice.

"Because I´ve got you all figured out." Is the other man´s simple answer.

* * *

**AN: I hope you enjoyed.**

**R&R**


	4. Trapped

**Like Minds**

**Chap 4: Trapped**

**This chapter is rated M, be aware.**

* * *

**Tyson** is furious. The way Kai pushed him against the wall the other day was humiliating. The memory of the closeness, his heart beat and the almost-kiss makes his blood boil in so many ways. Tyson is alone at the rooftop and he sighs as he leans back against the fence keeping him from falling of the building. The breeze is chilly, and he can smell rain, but he doesn´t move when it starts to fall from the cloudy, dark sky above. The rain cools his burning emotions down. A loud, deep breath leaves his slightly parted lips.

A pair of dark brown eyes open. He wants revenge.

* * *

**Max and Kenny** didn´t ask much as Tyson approached them. The two teens haven´t been around lately due to Tyson´s strange behavior so both were happy once he finally looked their way again. Kenny, however, decided not to take part in Tyson´s master plan. It bothered Tyson a bit but he understood. Kenny has always been a bit afraid of breaking the rules.

It´s a Tuesday night and Max and Tyson gather in Max´s and Kenny´s room. Kenny isn´t there. Their room is tidy but Tyson makes a mess in just being there. Max grins as he shows Tyson what he brought. He recognizes the smell immediately. Max brought a liquid that is known to make people pass out. It´ll keep Kai calm. Tyson laughs at this.

The curfew is at 9 and Kai always goes to bed at 10PM sharp. This means that Kai is fast asleep now. Max and Tyson nod at each other before they sneak into Tyson´s room. Kai is lying in bed, his chest moves up and down slowly, and his breathing is a bit heavier than usual. Tyson puts the handkerchief with the liquid on over Kai´s mouth and nose. Eyes open and Kai starts to struggle. The teen can´t break loose and he´s soon unconscious and Max blindfolds him. Max takes a hold of his feet and Tyson of his arms as the two of them silently brings him outside.

The rain is falling down heavily and the roof is slippery but the two teens manages to carry Kai there without any problem. Kai is slowly starting to wake up but he doesn´t make any nose as he does so. Tyson and Max urge him to continue on as they climb the security fence to climb even higher on the roof. The three of them doesn´t talk while they climb to the top of the school. No one but Tyson, Max and Kenny dares to break the rules and climb there.

Tyson and Max grin at each other as they push Kai towards the edge. Tyson takes a hold of Kai as he stands on the edge, balancing for his life while seeing nothing due to the blindfold. Kai tenses, his heart races and he´s struggling to grasp the situation. Max steps back ad he watches the two others silently. Kai´s lack of control makes Tyson smile broadly. He has never seen Hiwatari this clueless and groggy before. Tyson loves the feeling of power he has over Kai as he´s the only thing that keeps the other from falling of the roof. By doing this Kai will know who´s in charge and that he can´t do whatever he wants anymore. Tyson guesses this is the feeling of power and control bullies feel when they harass their victims. Tyson takes of the blindfold so Kai can see just how close he is to falling to a certain death. Kai seems to be a bit disoriented as he looks around with a dazed expression on his sickly pale face.

"How does it feel, Hiwatari?" Tyson smirks.

The other is silent for a long time as he´s slowly grasping what´s going on. Kai glances back at Tyson but there´s no fear in his eyes but there is lust. It surprises Tyson a great deal and he´s almost about to drop the other teen. Red eyes stare at him intensively and it makes Tyson´s body grow hot. A soft groan, just loud enough for Tyson to hear, leaves Kai´s slightly parted lips as he leans towards him. Tyson´s eyes widen even more at this.

_What is he thinking?_ Tyson pushes him away. _Did we give him too much?_

Another groan leaves Kai´s mouth as he´s balancing on the edge of the roof with Tyson as his lifeline. Red eyes widen a bit as he seems to understand the situation at last. Kai´s body turns rigid and tense in Tyson´s hold but he doesn´t panic nor scream for it to stop. It angers Tyson so he pushes Kai even further.

"Tyson, stop it isn´t safe!" Max tells him.

Max takes a hold of Tyson and Kai and tries to pull them towards him. Tyson loses his balance and steps back to regain it. Kai is about to fall when Max takes a holds of his arm and pulls. Kai, however, pulls as well and since he´s stronger it´s Max that flies towards the edge. Kai steps into safety as Max fights to stay on the roof. Blue eyes widen in terror as Max starts to fall. Tyson stares at him with fear written all over his face as he reaches out after his friend. He´s too far away to make it. Kai, who´s closer, simply stares at Max who turns to him as his last chance. The American reaches out to Kai, screaming for help, but Kai doesn´t move. Max closes his eyes and a scream leaves his lips as he falls of the roof.

"MAX!" Tyson howls as he disappears.

A loud sound can be heard from below seconds later. Tyson flinches violently at this. He lets go of Kai, runs and falls to his knees near the edge. He stares down and his heart stops at the sight of Max lying down there face down. His blond hair is no longer golden, it´s turning blood red and he´s soon surrounded by a pool of red liquid. Tyson´s heart breaks and tears start falling down his cheeks. This wasn´t supposed to happen. It´s a mistake. Kai, who´s now free, looks at the crying teen with emotionless eyes for a long moment before he slowly walks up to him to stare down at Max. His facial expression doesn´t change.

Tyson stares up at Kai with teary eyes. "You killed him! You were so close and you didn´t…"

Kai stares down at him without any sign of compassion in his red eyes. "No, Tyson, you did." Is Kai´s calm answer.

Tyson´s eyes widen in an inhuman manner at this. He can´t move, his body is frozen in shock and fear. Something in Kai seems to react on this: to Tyson´s tears and terrified face. Kai´s eyes widen a bit and he looks almost angry. It´s like he´s angry over the fact that Max´s death affects Tyson the way it does. Kai kneels down next to him and touches his shoulder in an almost gentle manner. Tyson doesn´t know how to react at this. The sound of voices can be heard them and Kai´s eyes move from Tyson to the windows below. People heard what happened and they´re all waking up.

"Let´s go." Kai urges Tyson to get up.

Tyson doesn´t move, he´s still in shock, so he sits there on the wet ground while his eyes are yet again glued on Max´s lifeless body.

"Tyson, we need to go. They can´t find us here. You know what´ll happen if they do." Kai tells him sternly, almost protectively.

Tyson doesn´t move an inch so Kai grabs his hand and pulls him up from the cold ground and along with him as he climbs down the roof. Kai´s hand is big and very firm: shaped by years of intense Beyblade practice. Kai is suddenly not sleepy, or groggy, at all. He´s determined to take the two of them off the roof and into safety again. Was Kai even affected by the drugs from the start or was all that an act? Tyson can´t do anything but let himself be lead. His head and heart is in a mess. His best friend might be dead and it´s his fault.

It´s all his fault.

* * *

**Several months later**

**Tala´s blue eyes** are slightly narrowed as he sits there, regarding Tyson, while his brain is trying to cope with what has just been said. They´ve been talking for several hours and Tala hasn´t interrupted Tyson once.

"I didn´t kill Max Tate." Tyson repeats. "Kai planned it all. He made it happen."

Tala looks at him in silence, he takes some notes, before he looks back at him again. It seems as it wasn´t Hiwatari that killed Max, but that his death was an accident. Tyson, however, seems to blame Kai for something he´s equally responsible for. Tyson looks tired and torn as he sits there, scratching his head, as he seems to be in deep thought. Tala can´t help but start to believe the guy. Tyson looks up again.

"At that time, I didn´t know why Kai troubled himself in saving me when he didn´t give a shit when Max died."

"…But you know now?" Tala urges him to continue.

"Yes." Tyson´s eyes turn soft.

Tala looks at him in a puzzled manner. Tyson´s angsty expression changed into something close to joy there for a second. Their meeting is interrupted by the guards who informs Tala of that the time is up for today´s session. He turns of his recorder in a disappointed manner. Tyson seems disappointed as well as he´s forced to leave his chair.

"I´ll see you in two days." Tala tells him.

Tyson nods in a tired manner before he lets the guards escort him away from there. Tala sighs once he´s alone. He stretches and his shoulders make a popping sound. Tala has a lot to do from now on and he has to start with confronting a certain detective. But he needs his coffee before that.

* * *

**Bryan** is sitting in his office as Tala enters. The older man is about to greet his colleague but he´s interrupted.

"You said Tate´s murder had nothing to do with Tyson." Tala glares at Bryan as he sits down in the chair across from him. "But he and Kai had everything to do with it."

"I can´t believe you´re trusting that madman! My men have …"

"Bryan…" Tala utters his name in a complaining manner. "This case is a mess."

Bryan turns silent as he massages his forehead. He´s well aware of that, but he hoped Tala could help him get things sorted out. Not to make things worse. The two men simply sit there in a heavy silence as they stare at each other with irritation in their faces.

"Did you contact Kai´s parents yet?" Tala breaks the silence.

"No, we can´t find them." Bryan answers with a sigh.

"You can´t find them?" Tala repeats with a raised brow.

"It seems like they´ve been out of town for quite a while. Who knows when they´ll get back."

Tala frowns as this. It´s clear that there is something wrong. Two adults can´t just disappear into thin air like that. He decides to investigate it further by his own since it seems like Bryan isn´t in a hurry to find Hiwatari´s parents. A deep sigh leaves his lips.

* * *

**Tala** walks towards the car he rented with a coffee in his hand around 10PM. He stayed at his office for a long time to make calls and preparations for tomorrow´s investigations. He´s beat and the warm but bitter drink is the only think that keeps him alive right now. Tala jumps into the car but it doesn´t make a sound as he tries to star it.

"Dammit!" _Damn cheap rental car!_

Tala gets out of the car as he starts to search for the problem. He isn´t really good at this kind of things but he can´t afford taking a taxi back and forth from work every day.

"Do you need a ride?" Bryan looks at him with an amused expression from across the parking lot.

Tala can´t help but sigh at this. Of course Bryan had to see him in this state of misery. At first he tries to ignore the detective as he pulls up the engine cowling as an attempt to keep his pride intact. Bryan´s amusement grows as he approaches Tala silently. Tala works in silence as he feels how Bryan is looking at the engine over his shoulder.

"It looks bad." Is his sole comment.

Tala gets more and more frustrated by each passing second but he´s a master at keeping up facades. He shuts the cowling as he realizes that he won´t come home if he don´t accept Bryan´s help. The red haired man walks over to the detective's car in silence. Bryan smirks as he opens his car and the two of them jumps in.

Tala didn´t think he´d be sitting in Bryan´s silver Subaru Impreza ever again.

Bryan drives in silence but he´s from time to time glancing Tala´s way. Tala, however, is leaning against the window with his face turned away from the other man. Tala is known to be slightly cold hearted but he´s usually not this straightforward about it.

"So…" Bryan starts.

Tala makes no move to start talking which makes Bryan frown a bit. They continue in silence. They reach Tala´s apartment after about 30min of silence. The car stops and Tala prepares to leave.

"Thank you." Tala tells Bryan and their eyes meet at last.

Bryan hurries to grab the other´s wrist to keep him in the car. Blue eyes widen at this but he stays seated. He got his defense up though, he doesn´t like this at all.

"Tala, talk with me." Bryan orders.

Tala decides to leave, but Bryan pulls him towards him in a swift movement. Tala suddenly finds himself in the other´s embrace. The detective´s aftershave washes over him as he´s pressed against his chest. His heart starts bathing wildly in his chest and it gets hard to breathe as memories of them together rushes back. Memories he tried to forget.

"Bryan, don´t—!" Tala pushes him back.

Bryan looks at him with something close to dread in his face. Tala has never seen him like this before, not even when he left him years ago, and it scares him.

"Tala, I´ve missed you." Bryan tells him softly.

Tala turns quiet at this.

"I know I fucked up, I know that very well, but can´t you give me, give us, a second chance?"

"There were no _us_ to begin with." Tala tells him bitterly.

Tala gets off the car and rushes into his apartment. He´s not crying, Tala don´t cry, but Wolborg rushes up to his side when he senses that his owner is distressed. Tala hugs his dog silently as his mind is racing. He can´t lie. His heart did skip a beat as Bryan touched him. Tala buries his face in Wolborg´s fur as he tries to calm himself down but the burning sensation won´t fade.

He misses Bryan´s touch, his kisses, his embrace more than anything but he won´t let himself get hurt ever again.

He tells him that he deserves better over and over again.

* * *

**Several months earlier**

**The funeral** takes place one week later and all of Max´s classmates and relatives are invited. Tyson wears a black suit as he stands there in the crowd staring at the coffin that´s slowly being lowered into the damn soil. He doesn´t cry because he has no more tears to shed. Max parents, who were visiting their relatives in America, returned to England upon hearing the news. His mother, blonde and blue eyed, cries her heart out while his father is eerily quiet. His freckly face stands out from the crowd.

Kai is present at the funeral as well. He looks as cold hearted and indifferent as always. He doesn´t seem to be a tiny bit remorseful or even to be mourning Max´s death. Tyson avoids looking at him but he can feel the other´s eyes on him from time to time. His gaze burns him. A tired sigh leaves Tyson´s lips as he closes his eyes and listens to the other students´ singing. He doesn´t know this psalm, ne never cared to learn them by heart. He wishes he could sing now.

The funeral ends peacefully and the students walk back in a long queue. That´s when Tyson spots Kenny. He calls out his friend´s name twice without a reaction from the brunette but he turns around when Tyson grabs his arm.

"Kenny, I…." Tyson starts but he´s taken back by Kenny´s hurt and angry expression.

Kenny steps back and Tyson lets go of his arm without a fight. He has never seen Kenny that frightened and angry before. It scares and hurts him. The young boys Kenny walked with stares at Tyson as if he´s some kind of freak.

"Tyson, don´t talk to me. Ever. Again." Kenny tells him harshly.

He starts to walk away.

"Kenny! I didn´t want it to happen, it was an accident…" Tyson pleads.

"I said DON`T TALK TO ME!" Kenny bursts out. He walks away together with his new group of friends. He looks at Tyson over his shoulder. His eyes are full of hatred. "Good bye."

Red eyes are watching from afar.

* * *

**A pair of** brown, wet and swollen eyes stares at nothing in particular. Tyson is currently sitting in the church all by himself. He was assigned to help out with the Becket play, so he´s waiting for the girls´ practice to end so he can clean up after them. He has been helping out for the past weeks. Being here makes him able to run away from the harsh reality that awaits him at the dorms. This is his sanctuary. His eyes follow one of the girls.

"I´m sorry about your friend."

The sudden sound behind him makes Tyson jump in his seat. Brown eyes stare back and he sees how Kai is there, at the bench behind him, looking very bored but indifferent. Tyson shifts uneasily as he feels Kai´s hot breath touching his ear as the other leans forward, resting his elbows against Tyson´s chair.

"You sure don´t sound like it." Tyson´s voice breaks. Sadness and anger shine through.

Kai regards him with almost disgusted eyes but he stays silent. The play continues and the sounds of girl voices echo in the building.

"You´re all alone now. What will you do?" He breaks the silence between them.

He is alone now. Max was his best friend but he is dead. Kenny has chosen to desert him. He has no one to turn to anymore. The tone Kai used indicates that he wants Tyson to lean on him. He won´t. Tyson´s eyes move to the girl. Hilary Tachibana, who plays the lead female role in the play. Hilary has been kind to him and they´ve talked a bit. It seems as if she knew about what happened with Max and wanted to cheer him up. Kai´s eyes darken as he follows Tyson´s gaze only to see how Hilary makes exaggerated gestures as she acts.

"Pretty, ain´t she?" He utters.

Tyson looks up at him but Kai is already walking out the church.

* * *

**AN: I hope you enjoyed it.**

**R&R**


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